In the middle of the corona crisis, competition in the French domestic market is intensifying. Actually, the French government wanted to greatly minimize the number of domestic flights in favor of rail connections. With Vueling's entry into the French domestic market, the opposite will happen, at least temporarily.

Although the offer that the IAG subsidiary will offer from Paris-Orly is initially still extremely manageable, it is sending an extremely clear signal to the competitor Air France-KLM and the low-cost subsidiary Transavia France. From October 16, 2020, Vueling will serve the destinations of Marseilles, Brest Guipavas and Montpellier on Fridays and Sundays. Due to the flight times, it can be deduced that private customers or commuters should be addressed in a very targeted manner. This can be interpreted as a small declaration of war on Air France-KLM. Due to the fact that Vueling has numerous slots in Orly, an expansion is possible at any time and has also been announced, depending on market developments.

In Paris-Orly, Vueling is not a newcomer, it is the third largest base in the network of the IAG subsidiary. So far, however, it has been limited to international destinations. That is changing now, because at least one wants to secure the slots of the failed sister company Level (OpenSkies). Not surprisingly: Transavia France will also be offering domestic flights from Orly from November 3, 2020. The Air France branch also enters the domestic market from Nantes. In addition to the top dog, the low-cost airlines Volotea, Easyjet and Ryanair also operate within France. The competition is getting closer, even though the French government literally wanted to turn off domestic flights.